Whether you like the hustle bustle of a big city or the seclusion of tended nature, or even in the search for the most exquisite cuisine, Singapore could be your next best travel destination.
This blog will provide you with the information and tips that the writer's gather from years of living in Singapore!

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Sunday, August 4, 2013

Hidden Bars in Singapore

by Lim Kairen

The mention of elusive and private
spaces for the higher echelons in society brews images of hidden doors, black
suits and ties, and the illicit deals made during the night over lavish
cocktails. Big cities are boasting about their increasing extravagant night
life locations for high rolling executives, made even more exclusive by the
invite-only guest lists justified by their premium prices.

But exclusivity in nightlife is not entirely out of reach for those who know of
the right places to search. To make things easier for the party revellers who
needs a bit of tuning down from their usual watering holes, we have sussed out
a few of the best chill-out bars hidden away in tiny obscure pockets on the
streets of Singapore which will all the more make you feel a little special
having succeeded in finding them.

Going to a bar doesn’t get more
sophisticated and nostalgic than what Night
and Day Bar (139 A/C Selegie Road
Singapore 188309) has to offer; an art gallery featuring works of local
artists on level four, an architecture gallery on the third and a bar on level
two. You wouldn’t quite know what to expect when walking up the deliberately
preserved marble mosaic tiled staircase which you would find in the kitchens of
very old HDB flats and the black and white illustrations drawn onto both walls.
You might then sigh with a sense of awe or relief having reached the bar to
know that are places where the terms serenity, rustic charm and alcohol still co-exists.
Night and Day almost resembles a Manhattan warehouse bar tucked in a
multi-level shop house which doesn’t need more than two words to sum up the
whole experience: casual and vintage.

28 Hong Kong Street is almost non-existent to most
Singaporeans as it takes being “hidden” to the next level. With no signage, advertisements,
disallowed media exposure and a no-photography rule, the only way to have found
out about 28 Hong Kong Street is through word-of-mouth or a sheer sense of
curiosity. The entrance of this “North Korea” of bars is equivocally lit by a
single strip of ambient lamp and once you step inside, a tall backdrop of black
curtains makes this bar even more evasive. The waitresses will be quick to
assign you seats as you begin your night away in seclusion being hidden away
from the face of this earth and mixology heaven.

It is no surprise that bars with views in Singapore are usually
jam-packed with party-goers during the weekends. There is nothing more
enchanting than having a cocktail in one hand and being perched high up on a
sky scraper looking down on the breathtaking views of the Singapore city
landscape. But the Mad Men Attic Bar (11
North Canal Road, #03-02) like other rooftop bars in Singapore seeks to be
unpretentious and casual in its interior as well as customer approach, however
it is a little harder to find. Revealed only upon stepping out a tiny elevator in
an alleyway at 11 North Canal Road, the bar stays true to its tagline – “Get
Merry, Go Mad” – as adopted from its sister bar at Robertson Quay, The Merry
Men Kitchen + Bar with a fun and warming atmosphere made as such by its live
bands, straightforward cocktails and a really cosy feel.